DDA purchases former Village Market building

The Centreville Downtown Development Authority announced Tuesday it has purchased the former Village Market grocery store and attached plaza.

By Jef RietsmaJournal Correspondent

The Centreville Downtown Development Authority announced Tuesday it has purchased the former Village Market grocery store and attached plaza.

Pattie Bender, chairwoman of the Centreville DDA, said property owner Dennis Murk approached DDA officials in 2011 and indicated his willingness to sell the property and buildings at a reasonable price.

After the DDA mulled the proposal for months, the $75,000 deal was finalized Dec. 26.

Bender said a drive-up ATM in the parking lot and two tenants in the four-store plaza part of the development are the only current rent-generating businesses. The largest part of the acquisition — and prospect for a rent-generating tenant, Bender said — is the former Village Market, which was Centreville’s only full-service grocery store before it closed in July 2011.

“Its condition is terrible, though … there’s some work to be done,” she said about the Village Market portion of the development.

Bender said the 20,670-square-foot supermarket also needs a new roof.

Bender said the DDA was interested in the property, in part, because of the deal offered by Murk and also to have control in prospective tenants or its future owners.

“If it had been sold to another non-profit, the chances of it ever being placed back on tax rolls would have been greatly diminished,” Bender said.

Ultimately, she said, the DDA would like to sell the property so it again will be a viable place of business or businesses, and be placed back on the tax rolls. The property also adjoins the Village Industrial Park which will provide additional room for growth.